Time for our annual offer of Château Musar from the excellent folk at Wheeler Cellars, sister company to Lay & Wheeler.
Time for our annual offer of Château Musar from the excellent folk at Wheeler Cellars, sister company to Lay & Wheeler. Once again you have the chance to place your order for the luscious new 2001 vintage Musar red (1), which becomes more popular every year. Old fans will know what to expect; new drinkers will savour that full, deep, leathery, smoky, perfumed richness — and of course the cedar notes — not surprising in a wine from Lebanon.
I am also a lover of the white (2), which is slightly unusual, being made from two local Lebanese grapes. It seems to taste of cream, lemon and apples, so I think of it as a liquid tarte tatin. It’s not dry, but it’s not really sweet either, so it’s good on its own, or with desserts or fresh fruit (Sauternes with treacle pudding, say, is a disaster, since the sweetness of both cancel each other out). The Musar people say to serve it at ‘cellar’ temperature; if you don’t have a cellar, give it half an hour in the fridge door. Musar orders will be sent separately at the end of May. Wheeler Cellars are giving you the chance to sample the white, by offering two bottles in a case along with 10 reds (3).
There are some terrific bargains in our main offer. Some of the best value French wine now comes from country areas, and in the Pays d’Oc the Montagne Noir people have come up with a lovely, fruity and zesty Marsanne 2006 (4). The £6.50 case discount brings it down to £4.25,
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